Ecotricity introducing £5 fee for electric car drivers to use charging points

Electric vehicle drivers will soon have to pay to use a major network of charging points.

Ecotricity said it has powered more than 30 million miles for free since 2011, but from Monday motorists will have to pay £5 for a 20-minute rapid charge at its electricity pumps.

A spokesman for the firm, founded by green energy tycoon Dale Vince, and based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, said this would still be "significantly less" than the cost of running a petrol or diesel car.

He added that a payment system was being introduced to support the growth of the network, which will remain free for Ecotricity domestic energy customers.

Some 38,000 motorists are registered to access Ecotricity's 296 charging points across the UK.

Sales of new alternatively fuelled vehicles rose by 40% in 2015 to more than 72,000, a market share of 2.8%.

The Government's Committee on Climate Change warned last year that 9% of new car sales should be electric by 2020 for the UK to meet its legal obligation to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 compared with 1990 levels.